The present disclosure relates to a stator heating apparatus and a stator heating method, and in particular to a stator heating apparatus and a stator heating method that are suitable to heat a stator in which a stator coil is mounted to a stator core.
There have hitherto been known a stator heating apparatus and a stator heating method for heating a stator in preparation for impregnating a stator coil mounted to a stator core with varnish (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-166712, for example). The stator heating apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-166712 includes a support mechanism that rotatably supports a stator in which a stator coil is mounted to a stator core, and a heating device that heats the stator supported by the support mechanism.
The support mechanism described above includes a workpiece rotary shaft inserted into a cavity portion provided at the axial center of the stator core. The workpiece rotary shaft is used to support the stator on the radially inner side of the stator, and to rotate the stator through rotation of the workpiece rotary shaft. In addition, the heating device described above feeds hot air toward the stator supported by the support mechanism. The heating device preliminarily heats the stator in order to reduce the viscosity of the varnish to be dropped before the varnish is dropped onto the coil end portion of the stator, and heats the dropped varnish to cure the vanish after the varnish is dropped onto the coil end portion of the stator.